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Emerging: Microsoft rolling out an Update which kills Lumia devices

Since the Note 7 debacle last year the tech world somehow seems to have become used to firms releasing updates which hinder users to charge their devices or to turn on their phones. This made perfectly sense in Samsung’s case as the Note 7 was a serious risk as many samples started burning due to faulty batteries. Over the past few hours we’ve received countless reports from worried Lumia users as they were not able to turn on their beloved devices after having received a firmware update. Indeed, both I and Valentin were able to replicate the process on our Lumia 950 XL and Lumia 650 respectively.

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:

Microsoft released an update which kills Lumia devices

A variety of devices is affected, though only those running W10M

DO NOT INSTALL ANY UPDATE ON YOUR LUMIA!

As none of our readers has had overheating issues or any other kind of serious problems with their Lumia (we’ve received messages from users ranging from the Lumia 550 to the Lumia 950 XL), these happenings are very worrying indeed. Interestingly enough though, it seems like only Lumia devices running Windows 10 Mobile are affected by this update. As reports started to increase, we’ve reached out to Microsoft for a comment. A spokesperson issued (via mail) the following statement:

Microsoft has indeed started rolling out a Firmware Update to customers using Lumia devices running Windows 10 Mobile late last night which prevents users from turning on their devices.

Asked for the reasons which lead to this decision, the spokesperson told me they had nothing to share yet though they would publish a press release in the coming days. Sources are telling me that Microsoft decided to release this update as supporting Windows 10 Mobile simply wasn’t profitable enough anymore and supplies of replacement devices in case of warranty were running out. In a off-the-record statement, the source also told me that Microsoft aims to get existing Lumia customers to buy one of the new Windows 10 devices running on ARM which are not due for a release until sometime later this year.

Given this statement, it seems like this is Microsoft’s last step in a series of action to completely get rid off the Lumia business as they have already stopped developing new Lumia devices after the Lumia 650 and later also stopped selling them in their stores. So far, non-Lumia devices running Windows 10 Mobile are not affected but this update might reach those devices too in the coming hours.

As someone who enjoyed using the Lumia 950 XL a lot and relies on having a functional phone, I’m outraged and disappointed by Microsoft’s decision and I urge you (also those using a Lumia running Windows Phone 8.1) to repel any updates you might be seeing on your Lumia devices.

Furthermore, I advice you to consult your calendar 😉

Are you affected by this update? What do you think about Microsoft basically killing all Lumia devices? Let us know in the comments below.

Emerging: Microsoft rolling out an Update which kills Lumia devices was last modified: April 1st, 2017 by Dario TheWinDuck